Read Textual Sermon from Gloria Copeland
GLORIA: And how we can be in the right place at the right time. BILLYE: Doing the right thing. GLORIA: Doing the right thing. And that's vital. BILLYE: And I'm telling you, we went last we went last week into the fact what separates us from all other animal life is we can speak. GLORIA: Yeah. BILLYE: We have intelligent speech. And we were created ish and ishah, and the root of those two words are "fire." You need to watch it from last week. And we were created to use our voices. And one way we use our voices is in prayer and in intercession. GLORIA: Yes, amen. BILLYE: We're talking right now about interceding for a nation or interceding for people. Jesus is the head. We're the body. And His present-day ministry is as priest. He's priest of our confessions, what we say. When we offer up a prayer for our nation, He's the priest of it. He presents it to God GLORIA: Praise God. BILLYE: presents it to God. And so He we're told that in His ministry of as high priest, He ever liveth to make intercession for us. And then we are told that in our ministry, as His body, a kingdom of priests, a royal priesthood, we are told to make prayers, supplications, intercessions, and giving of thanks for kings and for those in authority because God wants He wants the nations to be sheep nations. He wants them to have a revelation of God.
GLORIA: Oh, yes. BILLYE: Israel had the ministry of intercession. It was supposed to present to the nations God, and it does. It still does because it illustrates He brought them back home like He said He would, and His Word is true. GLORIA: Yeah. BILLYE: Now, we are told that we are to intercede for kings, all of those in authority, presidents. You're supposed to pray every day first of all for your president, for your judiciary, for your senators and representatives. GLORIA: Yes.
BILLYE: That's what we are to do in our priestly ministry. Now, we know we read yesterday how Abraham interceded for Sodom and Gomorrah and how God agreed to everything Abraham said. Moses interceded for Israel. GLORIA: Yeah. BILLYE: He even said when they were in such bad shape they made a golden calf, he said, "If you won't forgive them, blot my name out of the book of life." I don't know if I'd go that far, Gloria. GLORIA: I won't go that far. I don't think so. BILLYE: But he knew God. He knew God. GLORIA: Oh, my. BILLYE: And God did it. God forgave him. And they marched around 40 years in the wilderness and all that group died, but He didn't wipe He was going to wipe them out and just start over with Moses and Aaron and Miriam, but Moses talked Him out of it, you might say. And we see this scripture very GLORIA: He had mercy. BILLYE: Yeah. We see this very telling scripture in Ezekiel 22:30, God talking. And He's talking about Israel. The first temple is going to be destroyed. This is the book of Ezekiel. And He tells Ezekiel, "I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge " GLORIA: Yes. BILLYE: " and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none." GLORIA: You know, Billye, think about it. That's the only thing that's ever held God back BILLYE: It's truth. GLORIA: finding Him. BILLYE: Hey, you're right.
GLORIA: I just saw that. That's just BILLYE: I'm telling you, we sit on this program and we get revelation. GLORIA: We do. BILLYE: And, Gloria, she just gets some jewels it operates in her so well. GLORIA: Praise God. BILLYE: Now, let's think that through. Nothing else stays the hand of God. Selah. GLORIA: But he needs a man BILLYE: And He GLORIA: or woman. BILLYE: indicates here, Gloria, as bad as their sin was and I'm telling you there's some chapters in Ezekiel GLORIA: Yeah. BILLYE: you can read GLORIA: You could say vile. It was vile. BILLYE: some bad, vile stuff happening right in the temple, them turning their back on God and worshiping the sun in the temple. But He said, "I sought," He looked for, He hunted. GLORIA: And where did He look? BILLYE: Among them.
GLORIA: Yeah. BILLYE: That they should make up the hedge there's a hedge that can be put up around America GLORIA: Yes, amen. BILLYE: and stand in the gap. I'm telling you, Gloria, we see some things happening that just breaks your heart. You see the enemy trying to divide our country racially. There's no such thing as race. We all came from one blood, the Bible says. GLORIA: That's right. BILLYE: But the enemy tries to make all these differences. The Democrats, the Republicans, the liberals, the conservatives, the I don't know what all. GLORIA: What would that be, Billye? I've got a scripture. BILLYE: Okay. GLORIA: "Where there's strife, there's confusion and every evil work." BILLYE: And that's the enemy's. Because why? He wants to bring the house down.
GLORIA: So every evil work, that's the root. BILLYE: Through that's the root. And if he can he can perpetrate that, then he can bring the house down GLORIA: Yeah. BILLYE: because he knows what Jesus said, "A house divided against itself, cannot stand." GLORIA: That's exactly right. Praise God. BILLYE: So He's trying that on America, folks, like never before. So who can stop it? Who can help it? Somebody among us, you, me. GLORIA: A man among us or a woman among us. BILLYE: We can make up the hedge. We can stand in the gap. And I believe it, Gloria. And I know we're going to get those great moves of God that have been prophesied. GLORIA: Oh, Billye. BILLYE: They're even in the Bible. And before the week's out, we'll see where they're in the Bible. GLORIA: Good, good. BILLYE: We're going to give them. We're going to do it. GLORIA: We need it. BILLYE: We're doing it now. GLORIA: We need to believe for that. BILLYE: First of all GLORIA: Praise God. BILLYE: pray for those in authority, intercede. Look what Daniel did. He had not sinned like his nation had sinned, but he confessed and repented for their sins. Sometimes we have to, I think, repent, you know, for what's happening. "Lord, God, this is not good. We don't like it, you know. Please forgive us." And he confessed and repented for the sins of Israel and his approach to God, and an angel came. GLORIA: It said, "though he had not sinned." BILLYE: No, he had not sinned like that. GLORIA: He confessed and repented. BILLYE: That's right. GLORIA: So it doesn't have to be the one BILLYE: No. GLORIA: that sinned or the people that sinned. We you another can stand in the gap for them. BILLYE: We can stand in the gap for America.
GLORIA: Yeah. BILLYE: Brighter you and I are not for murdering babies in mothers. GLORIA: No, no. BILLYE: We are not for the rioting and the things that go on. GLORIA: No. BILLYE: But we can stand. GLORIA: Yeah. BILLYE: And here's you can read Daniel's prayer, Daniel 10, and an angel came and told him what was going to happen to the Jewish nation in the last days. Well, Satan did not want that them to get that information. And you and I get information from what's going to happen in the last days. GLORIA: And apparently, Billye, we can he confessed and repented for the sins of others. BILLYE: Uh-huh, of his nation. GLORIA: Of the nation, but of others, too. BILLYE: Yeah. GLORIA: If you had somebody in your family that was going on the dark side BILLYE: If you see a brother
GLORIA: according to this, you could repent BILLYE: It says, "If you see a brother sin a sin " GLORIA: for them. BILLYE: " that is not unto death, ask " GLORIA: That's right. That's right. BILLYE: "Whosoever's sins you " GLORIA: That's two witnesses. BILLYE: Yeah, and "whosoever's sins you remit, they are remitted." So this is the part of priesthood. GLORIA: Praise God. BILLYE: This is the part oh, brother, I don't know if it's in this lesson or not, but we're going to get to something, a really good scripture that's going to sow this all up when we get to it. GLORIA: Hallelujah. BILLYE: But through the centuries, men and women have made prayers and intercessions that have brought into being our beloved country, the United States of America. This country and the freedoms we enjoy are the results of people praying and interceding. Now, Gloria, I went GLORIA: Praise God. BILLYE: in Branson I live in Branson. I'm one of the blessed ones that gets to live in Branson. And I went down to this shopping place that we have, and they have a Christmas store down there, and they have a book store. And I love books, you know, enjoy them so much. And I found this book, "40 Prayers that Changed America and Those who Prayed," by Dr. Paul E. Barkey, B-a-r-k-e-y, "40 Prayers that Changed America and Those who Prayed." Then I quickly, you know, just scanned through there and I found Benjamin Franklin. I just love Benjamin Franklin, and I know that deists have made not deists, but revisionist history has tried to make you think that he was a deist. And they're trying to make us think that our Founding Fathers, that he and Jefferson, were deists. Well, they were not because a deist believes that God created the world and then He left He left. He didn't do anything else about it, can't be approached, doesn't change anything. GLORIA: Oh, He just took His hands off BILLYE: He just took His hands off and left, yeah. GLORIA: and left through the window. BILLYE: Well, now you can tell right here by this that Benjamin Franklin was no deist.
GLORIA: Mm. BILLYE: And what is happening here is the it's after the war of independence and they're having a convention to get a constitution for the United States of America. And so all of the different colonies have sent representatives to a convention, a constitutional convention. And here they come, you know, and they come from Virginia or New York and they all want to look out for their people. And they have they've been arguing and they've been there for some time. And their progress is slowed almost to a halt. And Benjamin Franklin gets up and gives this speech. Listen to this, "Mr. President, the slow progress we have made, after four or five weeks' close attendance and continual reasoning with each other, our different sentiments on almost every question, several of the last producing as many nays as yeas, is, methinks, a melancholy proof of the imperfection of human understanding. We indeed seem to feel our want of political wisdom, since we have been running about in search of it. We have gone back to ancient history for models of government, and examined the different forms of those republics which, having been formed with the seeds of their own dissolution, now no longer exist." They probably looked at Romans. GLORIA: Mm-hmm. BILLYE: "And we have viewed modern states all around Europe, but we find none of them of their constitutions suitable to our circumstances. In this situation of this assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of Lights to illuminate our understanding? In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for the Divine protection.
Our prayers, sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor. To that kind Providence," and that's what they call God, "we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend," capitalized 'Friend', "or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance? I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings that, 'Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.' I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel. We shall be divided by our little, partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves become a reproach and by-word down to future ages. And, what is worse, mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate circumstance, despair of establishing governments by human wisdom, and leave it to chance, war, and conquest. I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business " GLORIA: Praise God. BILLYE: " and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service." You can see he didn't believe that God had forgotten about GLORIA: No.
BILLYE: mankind. They're deciding on the Constitution, Gloria, the one that we defend, the one that we live by, the one that gives us our freedoms. And he was begging them, "We've got to have God's help." And thank God they got it. So after the convention, and nine days after the first Constitutional Convention convened, Dr. Franklin's suggestion was put into practice. Two chaplains from different denominations were appointed, one to the House and one to the Senate. This is still the practice today. It was not a violation of the First Amendment. As the men who wrote the Constitution also hired the chaplains. The founders had an appreciation for prayer and the need for God's intervention in the affairs of man in order to assure success. Thank God. GLORIA: Praise God. BILLYE: Thank God GLORIA: Prayer.
BILLYE: he insisted that we have prayer. You can learn more about Benjamin Franklin in a book by Eddie Hyatt, Eddie L. Hyatt, H-y-a-t-t. It's called, "The Faith and Vision of Benjamin Franklin." Don't let them talk you out of knowing that Benjamin Franklin and Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson, were men who knew and quoted God in that wonderful Constitution by which we live freely, glory be to God. GLORIA: Hallelujah. BILLYE: Thank God. Thank God. And it is this nation. He was Benjamin Franklin was greatly influenced by George Whitefield. And I wrote a book. I wrote a book called, "First of All & The Awakenings." And we're going to start there. Prayer and awakenings, you should have it. Now, here it is. Here it is right here. I wrote this book, "First of All & The Awakenings." And I actually wrote it after I had taught it on your program that was aired in July 2017. And this book came out in July 2017, "First of All & The Awakenings." GLORIA: Praise God. BILLYE: And this, of course, the "first of all" part has to do with our intercession for our nations, our standing in the gap for them like we are told to do in I Timothy 2:1.
GLORIA: Amen. BILLYE: First of all, before you pray, before you pray GLORIA: Did you bring me one of those? BILLYE: Yeah. I think you've got one at your house. I'm not sure, though. First of all, before you pray for your father, your mother, I Timothy 2:1, "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men." Now, in order to bless all men, you're going to have to pray for their leaders. You pray for their kings and for all that are in authority. GLORIA: Think about how that one thing may have changed a lot of history if people had prayed, first of all, for their leaders. BILLYE: Absolutely. If we had done it like we should have, Gloria, we wouldn't have a lot of the problems we have today. GLORIA: But now we get another opportunity. BILLYE: We've got another opportunity GLORIA: Good.
BILLYE: to, first of all GLORIA: Yeah. BILLYE: lift those up, pray for them first of all. GLORIA: Praise God. BILLYE: I remember Brother Hagin. You know I worked for Kenneth E. Hagin. And he had gone out in ministry, and he had a vision. And he had a vision of three frogs, dark frogs, coming up out of the Atlantic. But he said that was a type of the sea, of people. The Bible can refer to a sea of people. And coming up out of the sea of people, he saw these big, dark frogs. And they were coming up on the Florida coast. And they made three hops, and they landed in Washington, D.C. And the Lord said to Brother Hagin, "Satan has something really bad planned for America, but you can stop it. You go back to Tulsa, and you start a prayer group that prays against this." So he came back to Tulsa. I remember when he did it. They have prayer and healing every day on Rhema Campus, and it started then.
So he came back, and he started the daily afternoon prayer. And their focus was supposed to be to stop these this plan, stop the strategies of the enemy. That's one of the things you do in prayer. So for a while, they stayed focused on it. This happened about 1970 or '71. And so for a while, they stayed focused on it, and then he started the they stayed focused, but then they lost their focus and started praying about other things and kind of forgot about the three frogs. So 1972 came, this thing called Watergate, and it was terrible then. I mean, it shook America. It shook it to its foundations. It ended up in the resignation of President Richard Nixon, and he would have been impeached if he hadn't resigned. The things that are happening nowadays, it really doesn't seem so bad, but then, it was terrible. The Republican GLORIA: The beginning of BILLYE: Yeah.
The Republican the Republican Party had broken into the Democratic headquarters and stolen some secrets. And then the president and his men tried to cover it up, and it just snowballed and got worse and worse. And so Richard Nixon was going to be impeached, but he resigned. So the nation was absolutely shaken. I remember how shaken we were. And the Lord said to Brother Hagin that when the day of reckoning comes and there is a day of reckoning. He is the Judge of all. He said, "I am not going to hold Richard Nixon primarily responsible for this. I am not going to hold the Republican Party primarily responsible for this. I am going to hold you, Kenneth E. Hagin, responsible for this " GLORIA: The Church. BILLYE: " because I told you, and you could have stopped it." And He said, "Whatever happens in a nation happens because the Church allows it to happen."
GLORIA: Ooh. BILLYE: So what does that mean? You're a priest. You're in the priesthood. You're supposed to take, first of all, the heads of your nation, and you're supposed to put them on the altar of prayer. You're supposed to you're supposed to lift them up in intercession. And if you don't do it, somebody's going to answer, and it's the Church of that age, the Church of that day. Well, right now, Gloria, all these things that you and I have talked about, that we don't like and that we need to repent for and we need to pray for, we can change them. GLORIA: Praise God. BILLYE: But we have to do it by the Body of Christ being who it is. You have to know who you are. You have to know that He's the head and you are the body, that He's the high priest and you have a priesthood. We're going to talk GLORIA: Give me that again, Billye. I didn't get it all down. "Whatever happens in a nation " BILLYE: " in a nation " GLORIA: does what? BILLYE: "Whatever happens in a nation happens because the Church allowed it to happen." GLORIA: I believe that. BILLYE: Whoa. That's pretty heavy. But, we're the ones with the authority. We're the ones.
GLORIA: We're the ones with the name BILLYE: With the name, we're the ones with the blood, we're the ones with the blood GLORIA: of Jesus. BILLYE: with the Word. We're the ones who have been given this charge. GLORIA: That's right. BILLYE: You sit up there and you rule and reign and you lift up the kings and you be the priests on the earth. See, we're the priests on the earth. We're the priests for this nation. GLORIA: The Church. BILLYE: Yeah. GLORIA: Praise God. Wow. You don't want to miss any of these. Billye and I'll be right back.
